Wednesday, May 22, 1996
Bruins drop title match to Stanford in 4-1 blowoutBy Mark
Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
This is not what the UCLA men’s tennis team had in mind. They
had it all in the palm of their hand  the number one ranking,
an undefeated regular season, and a chance to beat Stanford for the
fourth time this year.
They had the chance to bring a championship that has been absent
for 13 years back to UCLA, but in the end, they came up one match
short, as Stanford defended its NCAA crown in a 4-1 victory.
"This was a disappointing end to a great season," UCLA head
coach Billy Martin said. "We’ve done a great job to come up one
match short of a perfect season. It’s a shame, but I’m very proud
of (the team). We came up a little short but we can hold our heads
up."
Facing the Cardinal in a title match this season was old news
for the Bruins, as they already defeated them to take the National
Indoors. Two regular season victories later, the Bruins had a
chance to return the whitewashing that Stanford handed them last
year, but in the most important match of the year, something was
missing.
"We expected a tough match but we definitely expected to beat
them," senior Heath Montgomery said. "We’d beaten them in the past
and that’s probably what we relied on a little too much. We
expected the fire but apparently we just weren’t up to the
challenge of meeting it."
At the start, things looked rosy for UCLA, as it secured the
doubles point to open the scoring. Junior Eric Taino and sophomore
Matt Breen edged Ricky Becker and Grant Elliot 9-7 at the third
position, and the number one team of Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan
Muskatirovic squeaked past Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas, 9-8.
With a 1-0 advantage, the momentum in their favor and perhaps
the strongest singles lineup in the nation waiting to take the
court, the situation seemed well in hand.
Then the inexplicable happened, as the Bruins dropped four
consecutive singles matches to the Cardinal. The bottom four
positions on the ladder were eaten up by Stanford, and the one-two
combo of Gimelstob and Muskatirovic never became a factor as their
matches were suspended once the outcome was decided.
"We started off better, but as the match progressed, we
faltered," Martin said. "They raised their level a little bit
better than we did."
Players that had posted stellar results all season suddenly
found themselves on the wrong end of the score, and a lineup that
had been nearly untouchable all season showed some gaping holes. At
the number six position, Vincent Allegre fell to Becker 6-3, 6-2,
Breen fell to Elliot at number five, 6-3, 7-5, and Montgomery fell
to Jim Thomas 7-6, 6-3 at number four.
"They came out in singles and showed us the level at which we
had to play," Montgomery said. "For the first time we found
ourselves on the defensive and we weren’t able to get back on the
offensive. The team has been able to come through tough matches
before, but for whatever reason, it just wasn’t our day."
Facing a 3-1 deficit, it was up to the top three positions to
come up with a miracle. With Gimelstob locked in a three-set
struggle with Jeff Salzenstein at number one, and Muskatirovic just
starting into a third set, the Bruins were still hopeful, but when
Ryan Wolters closed out Taino at number three, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, it
was game, set, match, championship  Cardinal.
"Everybody knows that we still had a great season," Martin said.
"In order for us to feel like we’re going to be a dominant force,
we have to win an NCAA championship. We’ll keep plugging away."
SCOTT O/Daily Bruin
Said senior Heath Montgomery on UCLA’s 4-1 loss to Stanford:
"… it just wasn’t our day."